"Everyone, I'm home!"
Ash's shout shattered the molten gold of the setting sun, and the sky's glow suddenly boiled for him, like a calm lake disturbed by a thrown stone.
As the wind swept across the plains, it carried grit, but it wasn't a powerful dust storm; it was more like a handful of gold dust scattered across the sky, weaving a dazzling curtain of light behind him.
Pikachu, who had just devoured three bowls of Mr. Mime's special snacks at Ash's house, was squatting on the research lab's lawn, rubbing his round belly, his tongue still hanging from the corner of his mouth, licking the lingering sweetness.
Suddenly, his ears perked up, and the fur on his tail bristled.
Oh no, something big is about to happen.
Before he could clearly see the figure enveloped in golden light in the distance, he smelled a familiar scent mixed with dust, scaring Pikachu like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
"Pika!" Pikachu leaped half a person's height, and in a flash of lightning, he darted three trees away, his short legs leaving three scorched marks on the grass.
"Charizard, Snorlax, Bayleef, Corphish, Totodile, Heracross, Donphan, Tauros, Glalie, Sceptile, Swellow, Noctowl, Kingler—I'm home!"
Ash spread his arms, a joyful smile on his face, (the familiar Kanto BGM begins).
"Char... Gana... Snor..."
Ash's smile was still on his lips when he saw Charizard flapping his sparking wings, charging at the front, Snorlax following closely with his mountain-crushing steps, and Bayleef's Vine Whip already a green blur.
He suddenly remembered the tragic sight of three trees being knocked down by Snorlax's bear hug last time, and his smile crumbled on his face as he frantically waved his hands.
"Wait, wait, wait, brake, all of you! Stop, everyone!" Ash looked flustered.
"Hey, everyone, stop quickly."
"Thud!"
Before he finished speaking, a huge force struck, and Ash felt like a leaf caught by the wind, soaring into the air.
Mid-air, he glimpsed Pikachu squatting on the grass, having somehow found a pair of crooked black sunglasses to perch on his round nose, holding a drawing board. On it, he had clumsily sketched Ash being sent flying by Snorlax, and in the corner, he'd drawn a heart-eyed Pikachu head, poking the edge of the board with his tail tip, giving Ash a tiny thumbs-up.
"Pika (That's a great drawing)!"
Pikachu wasn't worried about Ash at all, because he knew that guy was there.
Ash, with his eyes tightly shut, felt himself caught by a thick arm. Opening his eyes, he found himself soaring at a low altitude.
"Charizard, well done!"
No sooner had he spoken than Ash was bathed in a Flamethrower.
The hat on his head was charred black.
It was fine; Ash was already used to it.
Bayleef below wasn't having it and single-mindedly extended her Vine Whip towards Ash.
"Bayleef, don't pull me!"
"Charizard, retract your Dragon Breath!"
"Snorlax, don't use Hyper Beam randomly after waking up!"
"Heracross, get off Bulbasaur!"
"And you, Totodile, let go of my arm, it hurts too much!"
--- Night fell, cool.
Professor Oak fiercely rubbed his throbbing temples, his glasses slipping to the tip of his nose, revealing his wide, staring eyes behind the lenses.
The backyard before him looked as if it had been plowed three times by Gyarados's Hyper Beam; three lone trees were crookedly stuck in the mud, the turf was shredded into strips and scattered everywhere, and in the distance, there was a three-meter-diameter crater, with faint Tauros footprints visible inside.
He took the report handed to him by his trembling assistant, already hearing the sound of money pouring out of his wallet: "...The damaged area in the southwest forest has increased by 37% compared to last time, and the training ground's foundation has sunk by 12 centimeters..."
"Hiss!"
Professor Oak gasped, his cheeks puffed out with anger. He remembered when Ash came back last year and tore off half the roof; compared to now, last year felt restrained. Professor Oak felt like the blood vessels in his temples were about to burst.
But when he saw Ash's head bowed, with Snorlax's drool still on his crown, he suddenly deflated, hunched his back, pulled a mint from his pocket, and popped it into his mouth, his voice muffled,
"Alright, alright, it's getting dark, go home quickly. I'll have the construction crew come tomorrow... If there's a next time, I'll send you to Vermilion City pier to move bricks."
Ash, hearing this, breathed a sigh of relief and repeatedly bowed,
"Yes, Professor, I'll definitely be careful next time, Professor, I'll head back now!"
These repair costs were undoubtedly a huge sum for Ash, but for Oak, the pillar of the Kanto League's scientific community, a world-class Professor, and the man who almost consecutively became Kanto League Champion, this money was just a drop in the bucket. If Oak asked, the League would provide.
However, this money had to be paid by Professor Oak himself first, then reimbursed by the League.
Professor Oak glanced at Ash's figure gradually disappearing into the night and couldn't help but say,
"Growing up, my foot."
--- "Pika, Pikapi, Pika Pika! (Ash, you've changed!)"
"Have I, Pikachu? I think I'm doing okay."
Ash and Pikachu lay peacefully on the bed, reminiscing about their many years of travel, from Kanto to Johto, the Orange Islands, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. They had experienced so much.
Unbeknownst to them, they had both grown up.
The sound of cicadas seeped through the screen window, and the moonlight stretched their two shadows long.
His fingertip traced Pikachu's ear tip, then felt the callus at the base of his tail—worn down by countless battles.
"From Kanto to Sinnoh, huh..." he murmured softly, images flashing before his eyes: huddling together for warmth in the Orange Islands rain, Pikachu's silhouette shading him with his tail in the Hoenn desert, and the way he tried to wave his paw at Ash before collapsing in the Sinnoh finals.
He was about to turn over and say, "Let's start special training tomorrow," but he saw Pikachu had already buried his face in the pillow, his round belly gently rising and falling with his breathing, but the tip of his tail had quietly hooked around Ash's wrist, as if afraid he might sneak away again.
"You, you fell asleep without even telling me."
Ash, both amused and exasperated, quietly released Pikachu's tail tip, turned over, crossed his legs on the bed, and his mind was filled with images of his companions and the scene where he announced to everyone that he would temporarily halt his journey to stay with them and grow together. He couldn't help but feel overjoyed, muttering training plans,
"Gible needs to be trained, everyone's battle styles and special training methods should be..."
"Hmph, hmph, hmph!"
While muttering, Ash also drifted off to sleep.
Ash, who aspired to be a Pokemon Master, unexpectedly chose to temporarily halt his journey. So, what kind of adventure awaits him tomorrow?
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